Dragon Prince
by dumamoja
Summary: For the past 400 years, magic has been a hidden force, dragons even more so. Imagine Lucy's surprise when she found out that there was a dragon prince in her homeroom. I don't own Fairy-Tail.
1. Chapter 1

**Jambo Fellow readers.**

 **I LIIIIIVVVEEE!**

 **See you at the bottom of the chapter.**

Chapter 1

Elevated heart rate, flushed cheeks, difficulty speaking, and shortness of breath.

No doubt about it, she had all the symptoms.

Lucy Heartfilia, was excited.

You might wonder why, which is understandable, and if you were to ask her in the simplest terms, she would answer you in a similar fashion. Today was the first day of the school year.

Now most people who have attended school for any period of time do not view this day as one that is worthy of such emotion, and Lucy was typically one of those in that group. In fact, the 17-year-old senior had done her best to skip a grade for the soul purpose of having one less 'first day' to endure.

She hadn't succeeded in that endeavor, a detail that caused her great depression for many weeks upon her realization of it.

School was horrible, the hours were too many, the teachers too strict and boring, (honestly there had to be a way to teach history, science, and literature that didn't put you to sleep), and all of her class mates were rich, air headed, snobs.

Of course, that was her old school, Sabertooth High, a rather exclusive private school. Her new school was Fairy-Tail High, another private school, but much more accepting, and she already had friends there.

The young blonde had met Levy McGarden on a Tuesday about halfway through the last school year at the public library. It had been sheer coincidence, though they preferred to call it fate, that Lucy had wanted to reread 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians', and couldn't find her copy of The 'Lightning Thief,' at the same time that Levy found herself in a similar situation, the exact same situation to be honest.

It was also a coincidence that the library only had one copy that wasn't being borrowed at that time, and that the two girls reached for it at the same time. So far this sounds like a sappy romantic novel of a story, but don't worry, it gets better.

When the blonde and the bluenette grabbed the book at the same time, they immediately sent each other glares, each silently telling the other to back off, this book was their's. The glaring didn't last long, as it grew, quite quickly, into a physical fight, both of them trying to get the book without tearing it.

They were interrupted by the librarian's, rather loud, order for silence. And anyone who had seen that woman angry before, no matter how long ago it was, still suffered nightmares.

The once passionate war over the book ended with the two 'bitter' enemies hugging each other as if their lives depended on it.

It was Levy who suggested to the busty blonde that they call a truce and simply read the book together in the library, and it was Lucy who quickly, and whole heartedly, agreed with the petite bluenette's idea.

They found a corner of the building, that was as far away from the librarian as they could get, with a few chairs, and sat down. Levy was holding the book when they got there, so she started reading it, out loud, to Lucy.

It was when they got to the description of Mrs. Dodds transformation into the fury Alecto, that they got off track with the reading, and by off track, I mean completely forgot about it.

For it was at this time that Lucy made the comment, "Still not as scary as my algebra teacher was."

After Levy's (unnecessarily long, in Lucy's opinion,) giggle fit died down, the blonde went on to explain how her calculus teacher for this year, a man named Jose Porla, was an extreme creep, with to slick hair, unwavering eyes, so long as they were focused on something below your neck, and an oil slick voice that he seemed to think was charming. Just thinking about him sent shivers down Lucy's spine, and Levy wondered aloud how he managed to get a teaching position at Sabertooth, which was an all girl school.

Needless to say, once they were done talking about Math teachers, they got on to the subject of math itself, and how they hated it. That discussion obviously lead to the topic of school in general and… Well you get the idea.

By the end of the three hours that they had spent in the library, they had read three chapters of the book, discussed their school preferences, exchanged phone numbers, and swore on everything that they held dear to meet again the following Friday.

Those meetings were instantly made into a weekly endeavor, and the two eagerly awaited each Tuesday and Friday for them.

It was on their third get together that Lucy met Erza Scarlet.

Levy had brought Erza so that she could introduce Lucy to some of her friends from school, a gesture that Lucy wished she could return. Erza Scarlet was a very mature looking girl, she appeared to be at least 18, with an athletic build, a kind face with brown eyes, and long hair whose color matched her name.

Lucy stared at her friends' hair for a while after meeting Erza, wondering if every one who went to Fairy-Tail High had an exotic hair color like those. She knew that Hishui, a Sabertooth High student who Lucy had seen but never actually met, had green hair, but other than that she had never even heard of someone with blue, or scarlet hair.

Erza told the young blonde that there were many people with strange hair colors at Fairy-Tail High, from blue, to green, purple, and pink. She also found out that Levy hadn't stopped talking about her for a week, which caused her cheeks to take on a light pink shade themselves.

The three friends spoke for a little as they made their way to the same corner of the library that they always claimed for themselves, on the way there Lucy saw that Erza had picked up some books of her own. By the time they arrived and sat down, the redhead had a whole shelf's worth of books in her arms, she then proceeded to set them down beside her chair and leaf through them, as Lucy and Levy continued reading from where they had left off last week.

It became customary, for most meetings afterwards, for Levy to bring other friends from her school, by her doing this, Lucy met many interesting characters.

There was Cana Alberona, the brunette with the alcohol obsession. Lucy knew she was in for a strange experience when she showed up with Levy, the top of her school uniform unbuttoned revealing the blue bikini top that she was wearing instead of a bra, and a bottle of beer in her hand.

Even though the legal drinking age in Fiore was 15, alcohol still wasn't allowed in the library, a fact which lead to a battle of epic proportions between the semi-drunk teen and the stoic librarian, that was the first time anyone stood up to the domineering woman and walked away without any emotional scars, though when Lucy asked Cana about it later the brunette claimed to have no knowledge of the incident, causing the blonde girl to assume that she had simply been black-out drunk, thus sparing her the experience.

Next, Levy brought Juvia Lockser, the bluenette with deep blue eyes, and possible mental issues, why else would she refer to herself in the third person, and she might have called Lucy "Love Rival" when they first met, Lucy wasn't sure because Juvia had mumbled it.

Then there was Mirajane and Lisanna Strauss, the two white haired sisters. Mirajane, who insisted that Lucy call her Mira, was a beautiful woman who appeared to be the same age as Erza, she kept her hair long and flowing, down to about her mid-back, with her bangs gathered up in a small pony tail. Lisanna, who was about the same age as Lucy, had her hair short, in a pixie-cut, but in all other ways looked almost exactly like Mira.

Lastly, and possibly Lucy's favorite, Levy brought the young bluenette, Wendy Dragneel. The thirteen-year-old girl was the cutest human that Lucy had ever seen, her hair a darker shade of blue than Levy's or Juvia's, waist long and done up in two pig-tails, and her eyes a dark brown, with a cheerful smile that never quite left her face.

Honestly, Lucy thought that she was cuter than a lost puppy.

Everyone who Levy brought shared the same habits as Erza, at least when it came to reading different books While Levy and Lucy continued their story. But while they did look at books in a similar fashion to the others in Fairy-Tail High, their reading material varied from person to person.

Wendy for example, read books about the human body, how it functioned and how to take proper care of it, these books went way over Lucy's head and she often wondered just how high the young bluenette's reading level was. It was pretty obvious that she wanted to be a doctor from her not only reading the current health books, but also books on the history of medicine.

Mira and Lisanna both read romance novels, though there was still a difference in their genres, while the younger sister read from cute little fluffy stories that Lucy found herself enjoying on occasion, the elder read ones that had much more…shall we say…adult themes.

Lucy couldn't even look at the covers of those books without blushing heavily.

Juvia had, by far, the largest variety of books that she would read. The bluenette would read everything from romance novels, to books about marine biology, to books about the weather and how it worked, and finally, spy novels. Lucy could have sworn that she saw her read a book that gave tips on how to stalk someone as well, but she figured that it was just a hallucination, the fact that the name of the author had been "Juvia Lockser" only served to solidify this theory.

Cana…well Cana never really read anything, whenever she came the booze lover would just lounge across the third chair in the corner and would either sleep (while snoring rather loudly), listen intently, or make ridiculous jokes about the story that were only funny if you were at least buzzed.

Levy didn't invite her very often.

Erza had the strangest combination in Lucy's opinion, the first day that she came and gathered her books the blonde saw that they were almost all history books, more specifically about the history of weapons. Every thing from maces and swords to spears and lances (Lucy didn't even know that there was a difference). The red head would pour over the pictures, practically salivating while she complimented the designs like a fashion expert, occasionally giving some not-so good reviews.

The few that weren't exclusively about sharp objects were cookbooks. Erza really did drool while reading these, especially the one titled "Ultimate Strawberry". Lucy glanced at the book over Erza's shoulder and nearly gagged at the recipes. It wasn't the strawberry shortcakes or pies that caused this, it was the recipe for pickle strawberry salad, the young blonde couldn't understand how anyone could possibly try that, but it seemed to be the one the redhead was staring at most intently. At the end of the first day, after they had said their goodbyes, Erza declared she had to rush to the store for the ingredients for a strawberry glazed meatloaf.

Lucy never heard what the results of that were, though she wasn't sure if that was due to an epic, and embarrassing failure, or simply not wanting to share the 'masterpiece'.

With all these new and eccentric people around her, Lucy felt that her life was about to get a whole lot better.

After two months with the girls of Fairy-Tail High Lucy had made up her mind that she wanted to attend, and was determined to convince her father that it was acceptable idea.

Jude Heartfilia was a powerful business man, as the owner of the Love and Lucky bank (second largest in the country, just barely beat out by Crocus National) he obviously had very few money troubles, in fact, he had wanted to send Lucy to a private school in Alverez, the country across the sea from Fiore, but she had refused to leave the continent, plus she had been born in Magnolia, and that was where they had lived when her mother Layla was alive, and thus, home to Lucy's fondest memories.

Lucy was 8 when her mother was killed in an accident. Her father had then moved them out of Magnolia, and into the mansion he had built in Konzern, where he became more than a little distant for the next few years.

It wasn't until high school, when he had insisted Lucy go to a school instead of just being taught by her tutors, that she had returned to the town she was born in. Jude had also stated that he wanted her to get some experience living on her own, so she had said that she could live in Magnolia and rent an apartment. He agreed and it was set up so that she would have a monthly allowance and a maid, since she couldn't legally live alone.

Ironically enough, it was after she had moved out that she and her father had become closer, since he called her at least once a week to see how she was doing. They would spend anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours simply talking comfortably about each others weeks.

Which was a very good opportunity for her to try to convince him to let her transfer.

She had her argument all planned out. While Sabertooth was an exclusive private school, Fairy-Tail was also a private school, it was just more down to earth, their academic record was just as good as Saber's, in fact better in some cases. Fairy-Tail was actually closer to the apartment she lived in, and therefore more convenient than Saber, it was just in the other direction.

All her arguments may as well have landed on deaf ears. He turned down every request, and every reason, no matter how sound it may be. Because there was one detail, that no matter what it was up against, beat the competition hands down.

Boys.

The true enemy to her enrollment at Fairy-Tail, though she wasn't certain as to why. Her father would say that they would be a distraction to her, but Virgo, the brown haired maid who lived with her as a guardian, would say that he was simply being overprotective.

The end result was the same so Lucy didn't really care why it was. She was too busy sulking, and hoping for a way to convince Jude to let her transfer.

Her prayers were answered a few months later at the beginning of the summer, when Jose Porla was found guilty of sexual harassment.

The man was creepy and perverted enough when sober, but one day, during the last month of classes he had also been drunk. One thing lead to another, and he ended up getting kicked in his special place in front of the whole assembly (for good reason). After a hectic week, everything blew over, and the school had undergone management changes. It was also announced that Sabertooth High would become a coed school the following year.

Not really what she had hoped for, but she would take what she got. If she got into Fairy-Tail, it would be worth the nightmares.

The young blonde had stopped pestering her father every week so as not to annoy and have him simply, and immediately, hang up on her, opting to let the calls end like that once a month instead.

So by the next time her father called she had planned out how to guarantee her enrollment to the other high-school.

When they had reached the point where the blonde would usually start to beg her father, she, knowing that he was a very busy man and wouldn't have heard, told him about the recent developments at Saber, almost offhandedly. However, before she could start "phase 2", the part where she tried for the final time to convince him that she could attend the now infamous (in Jude's opinion) Fairy-Tail High, he hung up.

Without one word.

Lucy spent the next week in her bedroom, mourning the loss of her chance to attend the same school as her friends. She left only to go to school, (due to Virgo using something just shy of deadly force) and to see Levy at the library.

On the seventh day of her depression, she received a letter from her father. She almost didn't read it just to spite him, but after five or six minutes, curiosity got the best of her and she hesitantly tore open the envelope to find four sheets of paper inside. The first one covered in Jude's neat, practiced handwriting.

 _Dear Lucy,_

 _It has come to my attention that the school that you are currently attending, Sabertooth High, has been involved in nothing short of a scandal in the past few weeks. The news reports say that a teacher has been accused, and found guilty of, sexual harassment._

 _They are even going so far as to show a short video on their websites that depicts a Mr. Jose Porla attempting to force himself on a senior from this year, only to fail after the young lady delivered a powerful, and well deserved, blow to his person._

 _As a result of all the media attention, the school has changed the members of its management staff, and has announced that in the next school year, Sabertooth High shall become a coed establishment._

 _Due to these events I do not feel that I can allow you to continue to attend this school for your final year. You are a Heartfilia, and cannot be involved with places such reputation._

 _Fortunately, I have found another school in Magnolia that will be suitable for your education needs._

 _It is called Fairy-Tail High, and upon my research into the school I have found that it has a history of students with admirable academic records, and is not too far from your apartment. The campus is clean, if a bit aged, and orderly and the principal, Mr. Makarov Dreyer, is actually an old friend of your mother's._

 _I have been in contact with him and have obtained the necessary paperwork, please find enclosed the application for Fairy-Tail High. Remembering that this is a coed school, I will understand if you do not wish to attend, since you are accustomed to all-girl organizations._

 _As such I have also included an application for Spriggan-Academy in Alverez for your consideration. You may choose whichever you are more comfortable with._

 _I trust that you will make a sound decision._

 _Sincerely, Jude Heartfilia._

Lucy, while nearly bursting with joy that her father had finally given her permission to go to Fairy-Tail High, was beside herself with indignation that he not only tried to pass it of as his idea, but had the gall to suggest that she go to another school across the sea.

Upon reading the second page of the letter however, her irritation quickly turned to amusement.

 _P.S._

 _Just because I am supposed to be the adult in our relationship, doesn't mean I can't be a sore Loser. Better keep those grades up._

 _You Win._

And that is the story of how Lucy Heartfilia ended up in front of a school, wearing a new uniform, standing beside a short Bluenette, who was assigned to be her guide in these early days, reading the name of the school out loud with something akin to awe in her voice.

"Fairy-Tail High."

 **Shhhh… Can you hear it?**

 **The sound of many an upset fan furiously typing to point out that Virgo has Pink hair? As if I don't know that. I did that on purpose, you'll see why later.**

 **Anyways…**

 **Finally!**

 **Literally months after I promised to write another story, I give you a rather short chapter.**

 **I have no excuse other than writers block. I starter writing almost the same day that I uploaded the last chapter of "MotP, VftF".**

 **I can only hope that this near eternal wait for chapters isn't going to be the norm for this story, I have to many that I want to do, and I don't want to try to do them all at once.**

 **This was just a brief character intro (which is so hard for me to do!) of the girls, the guys will start next chapter, and the story Itself will be even later on, I'm in the setup stages right now, so bear with me please.**

 **Badaaye- Duma**

 _ **Edited 08/2016**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Jambo fellow Readers,**

 **Yet again here we are. At least it was only 5 weeks this time instead of 4 months.**

 **That's a little better right..?**

Chapter 2

After ten minutes, it seemed that Levy's patience had run out. With an exasperated sigh, she reached out and grabbed the blonde heiresses hand.

"Come on Lu! We cant just stand here looking at the sign forever. At some point we actually have to go inside or we'll be late for class."

Lucy blushed lightly in embarrassment, not wanting to believe that she had been standing there for so long. While it was Fairy-Tail High, possibly one of the greatest schools on the continent, it was still a school, no matter how much better it was than Sabertooth, should she really be so excited for this?

She honestly thought the answer was 'yes', but she would never say so out loud.

As they walked up to the door, Lucy took the opportunity to look at the school itself, instead of just the sign.

It was a large campus, centered around the main office and cafeteria building, which was designed like a castle, of to the right of the building was a gym/community center, and to the left was the actual school building, with the classrooms and library.

The bluenette was dragging her friend towards the main building in the center to see the principal and get her class schedule. Really it was just a formality, they had already called ahead and gotten her schedule, school ID, and a map of the campus mailed to her, due to the fact that Jude liked to be prepared in this sort of situation, and therefore made sure that Lucy was as well, but Lucy went along with it knowing that Levy was almost as excited to show her around, as she was to see everything.

She was quite surprised to see who was behind the secretary's desk.

"Mira?"

The white haired woman looked up from her work and smiled warmly at her.

"Why good morning Lucy, I'm so glad that you got to transfer to Fairy-Tail High!"

Lucy had yet to fully regain control of her lower jaw, which was still hanging loosely after her initial shock, so her next words sounded something like, "I hought hyou were a hugent here."

At the sight of Mira's head being cocked to one side in confusion, the blonde shook her own, and spoke again.

"I thought you were a student here."

A look of understanding replaced the one of confusion on Mira's face, as her mouth formed an "O". She then shook her head and giggled a little as she responded.

"Oh I was last year, I graduated. Now I'm working here as an intern."

Now it was Lucy's turn to adopt a look of understanding, though hers was shortly replaced another one of confusion.

"But, we saw Erza in the school uniform earlier, isn't she the same age as you?"

Mira smirked, and Lucy heard a giggle from the bluenette beside her.

"Mira is older than Erza by two weeks, Erza was born just after the cutoff date. A fact that has bothered her for pretty much the entire time they've known each other."

"I used to rub it in her face in middle school." Mira supplied, still smirking, "Still do sometimes, she always reacts."

"Isn't that just a little cruel?" Lucy asked, grinning in spite or herself.

"Yes, yes it is," Mira stated, "but what are best friends for?"

Lucy made a mental note to not let Mira become her _"best friend"_. She also sent a subtle (or so she thought) warning glare in Levy's direction.

Seeing as they were short on time, they wasted no more in printing up Lucy's final schedule, and escorting her to Principal Makarov.

When they entered his office Lucy saw an extremely short, old man sitting at a rather large oak desk. He had white hair and a full, if neatly trimmed, white beard, this wasn't the attention grabbing detail though, that was the magazine of swimsuit models that he was currently looking through.

The girls stopped dead in their tracks, the blonde and blue haired ones adopting scandalized looks, while the silver haired one glared.

"Master." Mira said, drawing out the word a little to be sure she got his attention.

The man at the desk stiffened before looking at the three over his magazine. Very slowly, as if trying to be discreet, he closed his reading material and put it in a drawer in his desk. Just as slowly, he folded his hands together on top of the desk and began speaking as though nothing had happened.

"Welcome to Fairy-Tail High Miss Heartfilia,"

"Master…" Mira interrupted.

"Sorry, I didn't hear you knock." He continued, sending a pointed look at his secretary and ignoring her tone and glare.

"Where did you get that?" She asked, ignoring his look in turn.

"Get what?"

"That magazine."

"I don't see any magazine."

Mira, having had enough, strolled to the desk and went to open the drawer, but was quickly stopped makarov placing his hand over it.

"Excuse me, everything in this desk is private property."

"Let me have it." There was no room for argument in her voice, but that didn't seem to stop him from trying.

"Do you have a warrant?"

Without further ado Mirajane yanked the drawer open, ignoring the old man's small cry of pain at having his hand crushed between his knee and said object, and pulled out the offending booklet. As she walked back to the two younger girls, she leafed through the pages, suddenly halting, she turned back to the one who was nursing his hand.

"There are some pages cut out of this, where are they?" She asked, her tone causing the two students in the room to shrink back a bit.

Makarov, to his credit, didn't even cringe, simply met her stare levelly.

"If you're asking about the pictures of you, then Laxus has them." Was his steady reply.

Mira immediately blushed, something that Lucy had never seen before, and dropped the magazine on the desk, as she went to cradle her left hand. Drawing Lucy and Levy's attention to the ring that hadn't been there last year, which of course caused them to gasp.

"Mira?" They asked in unison.

"I have some work to do at my desk." The silver haired woman suddenly stated as she turned and half ran out of the office.

The instant that the door clicked shut, Makarov snatched the almost forgotten magazine up and placed it back in his desk.

"Who's Laxus?" Lucy asked, deciding to completely ignore the magazine.

Makarov sighed as he eased himself back into his chair.

"He is my grandson, an assistant physics teacher here, interning like Mirajane, and her fiancé."

Levy gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth in shock.

"But last year they weren't even dating! How did they get engaged over the summer?" Another gasp, followed by the bluenette's scandalized whisper, "Is she pregnant?!"

the master shook his head, "no, no, nothing like that. They both had feelings for each other for some time, but he was foolishly burying himself in his training and work. Honestly, I think he was afraid to approach the subject, but don't tell him I said that."

"Training for what?" Asked Lucy, still lost as she didn't even know what Laxus looked like.

"he is a master martial artist," Levy explained, "he currently is a godan black belt in karate, and he is aiming to be the youngest zudan in history."

At lucy's blank stare she clarified, "godan is 5th degree blackbelt, zudan is 10th, the highest in his style."

Lucy nodded in her new understanding as Makarov cleared his throat to continue.

"At any rate, you aren't here to catch up on the latest gossip, you're here to finish your application. Just one more thing is necessary, so if you would please sign this."

He handed Lucy a slip of paper, which she stared at uncomprehendingly.

"But, I thought I took care of all the paperwork already…"

Levy giggled lightly as makarov explained.

"This is the final piece, it's something that only the students sign, most parents don't even see it. In simple terms, it states that if you do poorly in classes, you can't just blame the school or teachers, by signing this you are taking responsibility for your education, which is an important step in life."

Lucy stared at the document for a moment more, it was a single page so she read trough it once, her father was a banker, meaning that she had the importance of reading before you sign anything hammered int her head almost before she could read. Seeing nothing that she disagreed with, she quickly autographed the form and handed it back to the principal, who took it and put it away in a file. Turning back to the two in front of him he smiled.

"It's good to see you again Lucy. You were only an infant the last time, so I doubt you remember me, but I marveled then, and I will say it again now, that you look so much like your mother."

The young woman blushed lightly as she smiled softly. It wasn't the first time that comparison had been made, and it was, in her opinion, the best compliment that anyone could give.

To say that she was at all like Layla Heartfilia.

"Anyways," Makarov continued, "I would love to sit and chat with you or a bit longer, but you have classes to attend, and not long to get there, so we must set that aside for later. Until then, enjoy your time at Fairy-Tail High lucy."

The two girls squealed and hugged in their excitement, causing Makarov to quirk an eyebrow. They ignored him as they walked out of his office on their way to class.

As they passed mira, the silver haired woman looked up and smiled brightly.

"Have a good first day Lucy."

Lucy and Levy exchanged a glance before turning to glare, semi-jokingly, at the secretary.

"We are so not done talking here." Lucy started

"You have a lot of explaining to do young lady." Levy finished

Mira rolled her eyes and shooed them away as they giggled.

In spite of everything that already happened, they still made it to their first class before the bell rang.

Barely.

They sprinted the last few hallways, and had just crossed over the threshold of the door when they heard the bell ring. They just stood there, bent over and panting, for a few moments before standing up to face the class.

Or lack thereof. Seeing as every seat in the room was empty, including the teachers desk. Before lucy had enough time to properly panic, Levy double checked their schedule and simply groaned in exasperation.

"We have Guildarts for homeroom." She exclaimed, earning a confused look from Lucy, she elaborated, "he's always late, so you can be too, and he wont right you up for it, he is the most laid back teacher that I know.

"Oh… So how long will we have to wait before he gets here?"

"Well, he usually gets in about ten minutes after the bell rings, so the other students for this class should start showing up…"

"NOW!"

The two girls jumped and hugged each other when Cana leapt in the doorway and shouted. She immediately cackled and tackled Lucy in a bearhug.

"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH LOOPY!"

"IT'S LUCY! I missed you too! NOW GET OFF ME!"

After much struggling, Lucy managed to throw the alcohol lover off of her, though she just continued laughing.

"I hope that this isn't the way that every class is going to go." Lisanna stated, as she walked through the doorway followed by Juvia, and a handful of people that Lucy didn't recognize.

"Juvia is glad to see that Lucy got to change schools for this year."

Lucy smiled at the bluenette, "Yeah, after that whole fiasco at Sabertooth, my dad refused to let me stay there."

As the small group made their way to some chairs in the middle rows that weren't claimed, Cana raised a brow.

"I thought that you were begging him to let you come here. Why does it sound like this idea was his?"

Lucy went into a brief explanation of the letter.

Now Cana raised her other brow, "Why of all the…!"

She was interrupted when Lucy pinched her lips shut.

"Then I read the second page, where he admitted to being a sore loser."

The group burst into laughter, except for Cana who was trying to lick Lucy's fingers to make her let go.

As they continued their conversations, Lucy now wiping her hand on Cana's sleeve, people continued to trickle into the classroom. Lucy saw that Erza was not exaggerating with the hair colors. Other than blue, there was also a girl with hair almost as red as the strawberry lover's, two boy's with orange hair, and someone with green hair who looked very familiar.

The final student to to walk into the classroom was a guy with gravity defying pink hair.

Finally Guildarts entered, at Lucy figured that it was him since he obviously wasn't a teenager. He was six foot two, with long brown hair that was slicked back, and a stubbly beard. He strode up to his desk at the front of the class, turning to face them, with a clip board in his hands.

Clearing his throat he began.

"Alright, I see that we have mostly returning students, but for the few new students, let me explain how Fairy-Tail High classes work.

"First off, look around you. Everyone in this class is a senior, that is how all your classes will be, no mixing of age groups, your elective classes wont be controlled this way, but this is to help the teachers by making it so that they don't have to adjust as much for maturity levels.

"Second, everyone in this class has about the same grade average from last year, so while you still have the same amount of homework, your classes will be a little different. Example, I will be teaching you brats history this year, for the most part that means that I will be assigning you work, and that's it. The book has everything that you need to know, and as long as you are caught up in the reading, you should be able to do just fine on the tests, and assignments. If you have a question, about the work or material, I will be at my desk and you can ask me. Walk up to me or shout it across the room I don't care.

"If you keep your grades up, then when you come in here, you can do whatever, play on your phones, talk with your friends whatever, I don't care so long as you do it quietly. If your grades drop too low, then its obvious that this style doesn't work for you and you will be sent to another class, where the teacher will be more strict. Am I understood?"

At the unanimous nod of the room, he gave a grunt of approval and turned to his clipboard.

"All right then, role call, sound off when I get to your name, Cana Alberona,"

"I'm right in front of you Dad." Cana said reaching for a flask that Lucy hadn't seen earlier.

Faster than she could track, Guildarts was suddenly standing in front of Alcohol lover snatching up the flask.

"And that was your mistake, don't let me catch you drinking in class."

"HEY!"

She was ignored as he went back to his desk, telling her that she would get it back at home, leaving her grumbling at her desk.

Lucy looked between the two with wide eyes. Did Cana say that he was her Dad? Before she could voice the question out loud though the history teacher continued with the role.

There were a lot of names, but lucy only caught a few of them like 'Natsu Dragneel', the boy with the pink hair and, she was guessing, Wendy's older brother. When he was called on, he was cradling his head in his arms like he had a migraine, which caused lucy to have some pity on him, though he showed no other signs of discomfort.

There was Gray Fullbuster, who was on the right side of Natsu, the reason that Lucy remembered his name was because as soon as he said 'here' lucy noticed something, right before Guildarts pointed it out.

"Gray, your shirt."

Said student looked down at his bear chest and let out a yelp. He began franticly looking around for his missing article of clothing when someone from the back row threw it to where he was sitting in the front row.

"How did it get back there?!"

"I don't know! Guildarts said your shirt was missing, and suddenly it was in my lap, neatly folded!"

Gray grumbled as he pulled the recovered item on while the rest of the class chuckled, except for Juvia who suddenly had, much to Lucy's surprise, pink hearts for eyes.

"Oh my darling Gray is so handsome!" She swooned, causing Lucy to roll her eyes.

When her name was called, Lucy simply raised her hand and called out a quiet "Here," to which Guildarts grunted his acknowledgement, and welcomed her t Fairy-Tail High.

Levy didn't even look up from the book that she had been reading when her name was called, but the person who was called right after levy caught Lucy's attention.

"Hishui E. Nagare."

"Here." Said a girl with jade green hair as she raised her hand.

Lucy raised her brows, she hadn't expected anyone else to come here from Sabertooth. She supposed that since _she_ was here, that anyone could be really, but she was still surprised.

The last name that stood out to Lucy was Gajeel Redfox, this was because the guy, who was on Natsu's left, was 6 feet tall with a black mane for hair that went down to his mid back, and had more piercings in his face than one would normally find in a whole shop. As he stood to say that he was there Lucy heard Levy groan from beside her.

After the role call was done, guildarts simply told the class, "Hey you guys have literally no work this class, do whatever, but do it quietly."

As soon as he said this Lucy saw that Natsu snapped straight up in his seat. She watched curiously as he turned his head, looking around the room as if searching for something. After a few sweeps, their eyes locked, and her breath caught.

It was her first time seeing his face, and she was not prepared for it.

He was wearing a white checkered scarf instead of the standard tie, had lightly tanned skin, and olive green eyes, that held her gaze with such intensity that her heart skipped a beat. They stared at each other for a few more seconds, (though to Lucy it felt longer) before a huge grin split his face revealing his sharp canines.

Lucy hesitated only slightly before she smiled back.

The moment quickly ended when Natsu's gaze suddenly jerked away, and he gave one more look about the room. His grin widened, and then he spoke.

"Hey, Erza isn't in this class. GRAY, GAJEEL! FIGHT ME!"

The two named students had only a moment to stare bugged-eyed at the pinkette before he grabbed them each by their hair, pulled them out of their desks and slammed their foreheads together with a resounding THUD.

Lucy grimiced at the sound, but her expression quickly morphed into one of shock and awe as the two boys on the floor almost immediately jumped to their feet and returned fire, each aiming to smash Natsu's skull between their fists. They failed in this endeavor, however, as Natsu ducked low in his seat, managing to avoid the brunt of the attack, though they each still managed to graze him.

Before he could retaliate, Guildarts stepped in and, in one swift motion, clocked each of them on the top of their heads, causing the three students to halt their actions and nurse their newfound headaches.

"The three of you go to the Principal's office." Guildarts said in a bored tone.

The three offenders all stood, still rubbing their heads, and dutifully left the room without a word.

As Guidearts returned to his desk, Lucy, still staring in shock, heard Levy shifting in the desk beside her. Looking over, she saw that the blunette had her phone out and was texting furiously. Upon finishing, Levy put her phone away, and took notice of her friend's questioning stare. She grinned mischievously.

"Just informing Erza of Gajeel, Natsu and Gray's behavior…" she said with pseudo innocence.

Lucy shuddered, already familiar with the redhead's strict disciplinary views. " Will they be okay?"

Levy considered for a moment. " I think so…" She said slowly, "But they'll defiantly be a little worse for wear."

Lucy shuddered once again and turned her attention back to the doorway through which the boys had exited. She hoped that the redhead wouldn't be _too_ cross… Especially to Natsu… She wondered what was bothering him, seeing as normal people didn't start fights purely because of a specific person's absence….

She had yet to discover that the students of Fairy-Tail High where far from normal. But she would soon find out.

 **Dang, if I keep making you guy's wait so long between chapters, I at least have to find a way to make them longer.**

 **But trust me when I say that I am doing the best I know how, considering that I work 40-50 hours a week, drive at least 14 hours a week and try to keep a social life going as well as get enough sleep.**

 **Suffice to say, I am a little swamped.**

 **Shout-out to any one who knows what anime I'm referencing with Hishui!**

 **Now this school setup I have made is probably nothing like what you ever heard of, (or it may be dead on for some of you.) but I was home-schooled all my life so I am not familiar with anything about it. Also I kind of molded it to best serve the story.**

 **And for those who are wondering where all the magic and dragons are, you will get a taste next chapter.**

 **Also, I made a mistake in the last chapter concerning Erza and Mira's ages. In the last chapter I said that they were 19, but that would make them 20 in this chapter, and Erza is still in high-school? Starting this chapter, they are 19, and I will edit that bit in the last chapter.**

 **Finally, I hope that you appreciate how badass I made Laxus already. First he is a godan, (pronounced go-dawn) at the age of 19! Aiming to be the youngest Zudan (zoo-dawn). To put this in perspective, my sensei, who has been doing karate for roughly 30 years, and is actually in the living legends hall of fame, just made rukudan (6** **th** **, pronounced roo-koo-dawn). And in my research, the youngest zudan I have found has been like 35, and in some styles, 60.**

 **Be sure to leave a review, I really love to hear your opinions.**

 **Badaaye- Duma**


	3. Chapter 3

**Salamu fellow readers.**

 **Again with the 5 week wait. And I did the last two pages in one night.**

 **I really wanted to get this up by my birthday as a sort of reverse present, buuuut… Life.**

 **I am no longer a teenager! This saddens me, and I think that it's only going to get worse from here.**

 **But you aren't here to listen to me whine! It's story time! (No rhyme, or near rhyme, intended.)**

 **This chapter is in 3** **rd** **person limited, Natsu POV, I am going to try to keep all of the chapters in 3** **rd** **person limited and just jump from character to character.**

 **This is the last time that I will warn you who the chapter will be focused on. From now on you will have to figure it out with context clues.**

 **Enjoy the chapter.**

Chapter 3

As the three students walked down the hallway towards the principal's office, they said nothing.

However, they were thinking furiously.

From the looks on Gajeel's and Gray's faces, they were trying to figure out why Natsu had started that fight so soon into class. Natsu knew that they knew why he started it, but had yet to know why he did _when_ he did.

But Natsu wasn't concerned with that right now, he was too busy trying to keep from collapsing at the mere thought of a girl with blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes, who smelled distinctly of strawberries and vanilla.

That smell had been haunting him since last year, ever since Levy had come in with traces of it on her person, very faint, but there. Enough to the point that he had to restrain himself from shoving his nose int her hair just to get a better sense of it. It only got worse when the rest of the girls started smelling like it too.

It was almost like the world was taunting him, giving him just enough to let him know that it existed, but not enough to satisfy him.

During the break he had tried to recreate the smell using fresh strawberries and vanilla with no success. The ratio was always off; on one occasion it was so wrong that he actually hurt his nose.

He thought that this sick joke was taken to a whole new level when he got to Fairy-Tail High and the whole school smelled like it. He wanted to ignore it, and tried to focus on getting to class on time, but the smell was so strong, and he hadn't been exposed to it in so long that he couldn't.

Truth be told, he only made it to class on time because that was where the scent led him.

Once he realized this, he tried to keep calm. He tried, once again, to ignore the wonderful smell that was coming from somewhere behind him and to his left. When her name was called, he was genuinely proud of himself for not turning to see who had made the most angelic sound he had ever heard.

He did berate himself for making such a big deal over one word, and memorizing her name.

Lucy Heartfilia. Beautiful.

Once roll was over, he could feel his heart rate accelerating rapidly, and he knew that he had to get out of there. He didn't want to resort to _that_ if he didn't have to. So he began scanning the room to find another excuse to leave.

This turned out to be a mistake, he realized, when his eyes locked with a pair of chocolate brown ones. Behind him, and to his left.

In less than a second he had memorized every detail of her face. The position of her cheek bones, the size and shape of her nose, the way that her hair was done up, and the way that he predicted that it would fall naturally.

Had he been an artist, he could have recreated her perfectly from memory.

He suddenly realized that he was staring, and she was staring right back, he had no idea for how long, but he knew that his heart was beating dangerously fast. He felt that he was close to having a panic attack, and was sure that it was written all over his face. So he did what came natural by now, he tried to cover it with a huge grin.

Another mistake, because she smiled back, and he knew then that he had to get out of there right now.

Because his heart had just stopped.

On his next heartbeat (a good three seconds later.) he broke eye contact and started a fight.

And those were the events that found him standing in front of the principal's office door, and feeling very lightheaded.

As the pink (salmon) haired student and his two companions filed into the office, Natsu began to understand just how tired he was. When the door clicked shut behind the three of them, he fully understood, and collapsed.

"Natsu!" Makarov cried out in shock.

"Woah there Salamander, take it easy." Gajeel said, catching the falling student.

"Does this have anything to do with Why you started the fight Flame Brain?" Gray inquired.

Natsu nodded mutely, not trusting his voice just yet. He felt that he should try to recover some energy before trying to explain to them the problem…or situation. After a few shuddering breaths, he managed to get out three words.

"That was her."

There was a stunned silence as every one in the room tried to process the sentence that natsu had just said. It was Gajeel who spoke first.

"Which one? Jade, or Bunny Girl?"

The stunned silence turned into an awkward one as everyone's attention shifted to the red eyed student, who sighed in exasperation and clarified.

"Hishui or Lucy?"

Gray nodded in understanding.

"Okay, Hishui means jade, so I get that one."

Natsu still had a look of incredulity on his face.

"But how could you possibly get 'Bunny Girl' from Lucy Heartfilia?"

Gajeel sighed again before replying, "Well I guess it was Lucy then, and it doesn't matter"

Gray grinned, "You know, she could really pull off a bunny outfit- _hurk!"_

That last sound was squeezed out of the arctic stripper by Natsu's hand, quite suddenly and forcefully closed around his throat.

Fear, or even genuine concern, was not an emotion that one would usually see in the eyes of Gray Fullbuster, Natsu saw it now plain as day. He was certain that this was, in no small part, due to the fact that pure rage, an emotion that _he_ rarely displayed, (and _never_ towards one of his friends) was now evident in his own.

Before anyone could react to this, there was a commotion in waiting room, and suddenly the door to the office burst open. Standing in the doorway was exasperated Mira halfheartedly trying to pull back a rather menacing Erza. The redhead glared at the three students in the room, two of them looking back at her in surprise. Meanwhile Natsu was still staring intently at the one who he was holding by the throat.

Erza's scowl deepened at the sight and she took a step towards the pink(salmon) haired boy.

"Natsu," she said, drawing out his name in a way that she was sure would carry the weight of displeasure.

She was correct in her assumption. In fact, Natsu heard the threat in her tone and reacted instinctually.

By dealing with the threat.

Faster than the eye could follow, Natsu's right hand, his left still gripping Gray's neck, shot out and grasped the glowering redhead by _her_ throat, as he turned his head to face her.

Three sets of eyes bulged as everyone in the room, save Gajeel who looked more exasperated than anything and Natsu who was still glaring at the newest addition to the list of people he has grabbed by the neck, tried to wrap their minds around this startling development. Erza's shock was the first to disappear, her expression slowly turning into a withering glare of her own.

Not just any withering glare, but the most intense glare that she could pull off. A look so deadly that Gray, who could see it even though it wasn't aimed at him, began to shiver with fear. Often referred to as her Medusa glare due to ability to cause grown men to faint on site. That legendary look that has sent chills down the spine of even Makarov Dreyer.

That was the glare that Erza gave Natsu. That was the look that he met levelly for the first time in his life. It was the look that caused him to tighten his hold on Erza's throat, and growl.

The redhead's eyes bulged once again.

This time, Gajeel reacted before anyone else.

Stepping I front of Natsu, Gajeel placed both hands on his shoulders, causing him to jerk his attention to the pierced man, locking his slit pupiled eyes with Gajeel's red ones, and give a low growl.

"Calm down Salamander." Gajeel started in the most calming tone that anyone had ever heard him speak in, "I don't know why Titania is here, so we'll deal with her in a bit, but Frosty Pants here didn't mean anything by what he said, he was just trying ta piss you off, and it's workin'. Right now however, I need ya ta rein in your instincts. So take three good breaths, and don't breathe no fire."

Natsu stared at the pierced man for a long moment before complying to his request. Closing his eyes, he drew in three deep breaths and then released them each slowly. When he opened his eyes again they had returned to normal.

Shifting his gaze to Erza, and seeing the hand that was clenching her throat, his eyes widened in shock and he quickly withdrew the offending appendage, doing the same with Gray only a second later. Bringing his hands in front of his face, Natsu stared at them with something akin to fear and shame.

"Sorry Erza, Gray." He said softly, almost whispering.

Gray barely had time to release the breath that he forgot he was holding before a studded hand came down on the back of his head.

Hard.

"You idiot!" Gajeel said, nearly growling, "You should know better than ta say things like that. Especially so soon after he found her. He's never felt these emotions before, so he has no idea how to keep 'em under control!"

Gray mumbled an apology, but Gajeel wasn't through with him yet.

"I hope you appreciate how lucky you are. Not only is this his first experience with these feelings, but they've had a year to be growing with no trigger, and these things are like fine wine, the longer you keep 'em bottled up, the stronger they get."

His rant completed, the pierced man turned on the scarlet haired student principal. This time, when he spoke, it was in a much calmer tone.

"Now why are you here?"

Erza blinked, recovering her train of thought. This done, her expression changed to a light scowl that was aimed at the three other students present.

"I received word that the three of you had been sent to Master for fighting already." She stated, eyeing Natsu in particular.

Her words caused said mage to snap out of the trance he seemed to be in, as he and Gray suddenly found themselves hugging each other and hiding behind Gajeel, who just sighed and seemed to brace himself.

"Did shrimp tell you?" He asked quietly, hesitantly.

Erza sighed, closing her eyes to give a single nod in answer. Causing his shoulders to sag as he also sighed in disappointment.

Natsu and Gray, still hugging each other, gave the iron studded student a sympathetic look that was quickly replaced by one of fear as Erza returned her glare to them.

It was at this time that Makarov spoke up, reminding everyone that he was still in the room.

"and just what were you planning on doing with that information Erza?"

The redhead's attention snapped to the oldest one in the room, whose tone of voice warned er that she was on thin ice already, and she wasn't aware of what she did wrong.

Erza never did well on that kind of pressure.

"Well… I… It was my intention to…"

"I'm sure that you weren't coming here, to my office, to punish them." Makarov said, cutting of Erza with a tone that was somewhat condescending, and somewhat warning, "Because I know that you have enough faith in my abilities to handle the actions of not only my students, but the children of my guild."

Erza remained silent, this wasn't the first time that the Master had addressed the issue of her 'disciplining' the students of the academy. And because she was Erza, it probably would not be the last.

Everyone present was aware that, that knowledge did not make this lecture any easier for the redhead to endure, or lessen the level of shame she felt. Master learned a long time ago, that the best way to punish Erza, short of strawberry restriction, was guilt tripping.

"Also," the man continued, bringing everyone back to the present and away from their previous train of thought, "you are not aware of all the facts of the situation. Ever since they entered this academy, Natsu, Gray and Gajeel have always had the same class schedule, for the sole purpose of them, one day, if need be, starting a fight."

Erza's eyes, along with Mirajane's, widened in shock at this revelation. They had pointed out the anomaly of the three friends (no matter how much they denied it) having the exact same classes for years, but they were never told why.

And now they seemed rather skeptical as to the reason.

"But… Why…" Mira started

"WHAT!?" Erza naturally interrupted, "WHY?! WHAT REASON COULD YOU POSSIBLY HAVE FOR THEM TO START A FIGHT?!"

"It is a way for the three of them to get out of class without raising too much suspicion." Makarov calmly, yet firmly, answered. "So that if any of them feel they are about to lose control of their instincts, like today, they simply start a three-way fight, and as per school regulations, any student that requires disciplinary action can be sent to the principal. Which means that they all get out of class, and we can discuss the next steps to avoid them having a breakdown in the future."

"Speaken' of," Gajeel cut in, "We need to get Salamander somethin of Bunny Girl's, a sock or bracelet 'll do, so that he can have her scent with him to help him keep his urges under control. It may sound creepy, but it's better than havin' him just shovin his nose into her hair when he's panicken."

"Oh my gods…" Mira whispered into her hands, visibly shaking with excitement. She was ignored as the conversation continued.

"And she'll need to be moved to all his classes," Gray added, having broken his hold on Natsu, and vice versa, a moment before, and still rubbing his neck gingerly, "or else he'll get nervous if he can't keep an eye on her."

"Well that won't be a problem," the Master spoke up, "she shares all of her classes with Levy…"

"And Shrimp shares all of her classes with me, and by extension, you"

"Wait one moment, who are we referring to?" Erza asked.

"Oh yes! Who's the Lucky girl?" Mira reiterated, bouncing in place.

Natsu cringed, "Do they really need to know Gramps?"

"Yes Natsu. Mira I need you to file a report today to the M.C. Erza, you do one to the C.D.E."

The pink (salmon) haired teen groaned, "Why do those old geezers need to know about this, they can't keep a secret worth shit. Soon I'll be the focus of every old woman's gossip from here to Alverez."

Gajeel gave him a sympathetic pat on the back, he having experienced this himself rather recently, as Makarov also gave him a loo of understanding.

"Even farther than that I'm afraid my boy. Because the reports that Erza and Mira send will announce to our community, that Lucy Heartfilia, has been found to be the mate of High Prince Natsu Dragneel."

 **Dun dun DUUUUN!**

 **Well how was that for some NaLu foreshadowing?**

 **And shoutout to anyone who can guess what the acronyms stand for, one is probably really easy, but the other, I hope, poses a challenge.**

 **Anywho.**

 **I never realized how hard it is to give someone a completely different speech style like I did for Gajeel, just to stay consistent and not do too much to make it hard to understand.**

 **I think I stressed a little more than necessary on that.**

 **Again, be sure to leave me a review telling me what you liked, and how I can improve, it honestly makes my whole day better when I get an e-mail saying that I got a new review.**

 **Lastly, I'd like to give a special thanks to 'An Amber Pen' for both your words of praise, and pointers for my improvement.**

 **Like I said, it made my day.**

 **Baadaye- Duma**

 _ **Edited 08/2016**_


	4. Author's Note

Author's Note

 **Okay, I know that it's been awhile since I've updated this, and none of you really want an A/N, but this is somewhat important, and I am editing chapter 4 right now, so it will be up in a few minutes, (should the internet gods smile on me).**

 **Anyway, I was rereading my work, and noticed a few inconsistencies in the story. Nothing really major, but enough for me to go back and edit them to fix them.**

 **Now that I'm done with that, I will be Re-posting them shortly.**

 **Sorry again for this misleading Author's Note.**

 **Baadaye- Duma**


	5. Chapter 4

**Salamu fellow readers.**

 **Told you I was working on it.**

 **Sorry for the long wait, this was a hard one to write, and I'm still not too sure how I feel about it.**

 **Ah who cares. Let me know what you think.**

Chapter 4

Shortly after the three students had left for the principal's office, the classroom under the supervision of Guildarts Clive burst into a cacophony of murmurs, whispers, and gossip. The volume was steadily rising with each passing minute, going from a "peaceful forest" to a "busy street", until the red headed teacher cleared his throat, causing the sound level to reset.

Only for it to rise again, until his sudden coughing fit began the process over again.

Oh the joys of being a teacher.

But there was one group that was not affected by the man's occasional difficulty breathing, the very same group that maintained their relatively quiet level of conversation. It was a group of five girls almost dead-center of the room, that consisted of Lisanna Straus, Juvia Lockser, Cana Alberona, Levy McGarden, and Lucy Heartfilia.

The five students had a very informative conversation for their blonde haired friend's benefit, as they discussed the most important thing one could learn about their school, who was who.

The whole thing had started when Lucy turned to the booze enthusiast of the group.

" _Dad_?" She asked, referring to what Cana had called their teacher during the roll.

"I've never been called that before." The brunette replied snickering.

There was an awkward silence, during which Cana's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. The quiet was broken by the sound of her hyperventilating as she turned to make eye contact with each member of the group one at a time, her eyes asking a horrified question.

A question that she didn't want the answer to.

It was Lisanna who broke it to her. When the Cana locked eyes with the white haired senior, she sighed and placed a hand on her friends back, a sympathetic look in her eye.

"Yes Cana," she started, "you have just made, what can only be described as, a sub par 'dad joke'."

This having been said, the booze lover's expression changed to one of sorrow, and she face planted into the desk, sobbing quietly.

All of her friends immediately went to console her, ignoring the chuckling sounds coming from their teacher.

"I've been spending way too much time with him."

A crumpled piece of paper hit her in the head just two seconds later, causing her to look up and glare at the offending projectile. While Lucy, noticing some writing on the scrap of paper, picked it up, and after straightening it out, read the note aloud.

" _Don't say things like that! Besides, my jokes are way funnier."_

Lucy's head snapped towards their teacher, who was reading a book at his desk ignoring them, and then back to the note in her hands.

"How did he write that so fast?"

Cana huffed, "He probably had that first bit prewritten just in case. He's always saying that to me."

"And Juvia has noticed that Mr. Guildarts has always been fast when he wants to be."

"We're getting off topic." Lucy suddenly interjected, "Is he really…?"

"My dad? Yeah."

"But... His last name…"

Cana sighed, and brought her hands to her face before using them to sweep all of her hair back. She looked at the other girls of the group who all shrugged helplessly.

Lucy, taking the hint that this was a sensitive subject, spoke up before Cana came to a decision.

"Look, you don't have to tell…"

"No, it's ok," the brunette interrupted, "It's just that I don't explain it that often. It's common knowledge around here, so I don't have to.

"My mom divorced Guildarts before she even knew she was pregnant with me, and then never told him. I lived with her until I was seven years old, and she was diagnosed with cancer." Cana ignored Lucy's soft gasp as she continued, "She died three months later, but not before she told me who my dad was and set me up to go to school here, they have an elementary campus not too far from here.

"So when I was starting my third year of school I was living in Fairy Hills, and my dad taught world history, he only moved up to high school a few years ago."

"Why didn't you just live with your dad?"

"Well… He didn't know. I couldn't bring myself to tell him for years." Cana snorted, "I was fourteen when I finally told him, I was so nervous the whole day leading up to it. Then I was furious after I told him because he panicked and named three old girlfriends who could could have been my mother. I yelled at him for like ten minutes solid, the last couple of which were because he started grinning like an idiot.

"Next thing I know, he's wrapping me up in a hug, saying 'you're Cornelia's daughter alright.' We spent the next two or three hours just catching up…" Saying this, Cana wiped a tear of joy from her eye.

Lucy smiled softly, remembering what it was like to reconcile with her own father, "What happened next?"

The booze lover snorted again.

"He got really annoying. For _years_ afterword he wouldn't stop calling me his 'baby girl' or 'precious angel' like I was two years old! He started the process to become my legal guardian, which took three months, and then I moved in with them."

Lucy's eyebrow rose up towards her hairline.

"'Them?'"

Lisanna supplied the answer for this question, giving Cana a break.

"Guildarts is Natsu and Wendy's godfather, so they all live together."

"So Natsu is Wendy's brother." Lucy said nodding in her understanding, then she adopted quizzical look that quickly changed to a soft expression, "so, their parents…?"

The other girls exchanged looks.

"You do not know?" Juvia asked.

Lucy, somewhat taken aback by their response, only shook her head mutely.

"Lu, isn't your dad the owner of 'Love and Lucky?'"

Now thoroughly confused, Lucy nodded mutely.

"So wouldn't you know some of what's going on with the families who own large corporations?" Cana asked.

Lucy simply stared at them, at a complete loss for words.

Levy sighed and tried again.

"Lu, have you ever heard of the tech company 'Sky Lotus'?"

Still lost, the blonde nodded.

"Now bear with me, can you tell me the origins of the company?"

Lucy answered almost automatically.

"The company was formed when 'Sky Sorceress Inc.' merged with 'Flaming Lotus Industries', because of the owner's marriage to each other. Grandina Marvel, and Igneel Dragneel…"

She trailed off there, finally realizing what they were trying to say, without saying it.

"They're those Dragneels?" She said softly.

Cana snorted, "They're _the_ Dragneels, I'm pretty sure that no other family has that name."

Lucy only nodded, lost in thought. She did know what happened to their parents, everyone knew. It was on all the news channels for weeks, the perfect event to close out what went down as the worst week of the century.

The week that had started with the deaths of three powerful couples on three consecutive days.

On Sunday, the CEO of Doku Pest Control, Syrpen Doku and his wife Kimberly, were found mysteriously slain in their home.

That Monday, the bodies of Ivan and Molniya Dreyer of Dreyer Electrics were discovered under similar circumstances.

These deaths were labeled the work of the at-large serial killer Deliora on Tuesday. That day, his body was found alongside those of Silver and Mika Fullbuster, the creators of Full on FROYO, the frozen yogurt chain that had taken the world by storm. It was apparent that Mr. Fullbuster had killed the villain, even as the CEO bled to death.

Throughout these first few days, the children of the deceased were taken in by authorities trying to determine the connection between the deaths.

Wednesday was the day that unknown forces were rumored to have attempted to kidnap the three corporate heirs.

 _Thursday…_ Lucy shuddered at the thought.

That was the day that the blonde's world caved in. The day that she and her mother had been involved in a terrible incident. One that only she walked away from. Her mother had not been so fortunate….

Then, Igneel and Grandina Dragneel disappeared, along with Weisslogia Eucliffe, of Eucliffe and Eucliffe Realty, Skiadrum Cheney, of Shadow Industries and Metalicana Redfox, the owner of Redfox Metalwork, the finest steel contractors in the nation, … on Friday, July 7th, in the year X777.

Due to these turbulent circumstances involving so many high profile business owners, the stock market crashed that Saturday. Not that anyone really noticed. They were too busy arranging far too many funerals.

A sudden realization dawned on her, and her attention turned to the door that the three students had left by earlier.

"Fullbuster, Redfox, and Dragneel…oh my gods…"

The four girls surrounding her simply nodded.

"Yes," Juvia said sadly, "they are those same people."

Lucy said nothing for the rest of homeroom, completely tuning out the much more positive conversations that her group had switched to. For the rest of the period, she simply pondered the fact that, of the nine, then children, people whose lives were torn apart by that tragic week, six of them were attending the same school.

What were the chances of that?

 **I think that's a valid question.**

 **So this was full of exposition, and history, I hope I didn't bore you.**

 **Or overload your brain, you need that to continue reading this story and write me those lovely reviews.**

 **Hint, hint.**

 **I was a little disappointed at how few people took me up on the challenge to guess what the acronyms from the last chapter.**

 **, and FTfanatic777**

 **Both get a shout out for your accurate guesses, even if you both only guessed one of them.**

 **Last but not least, I have quit my second job, so now I have all of Saturday to… do all the house work that I have… hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner, that is my goal anyway.**

 **Baadaye- Duma**


	6. Chapter 5

**Jambo fellow readers**

 **There will be a proper apology and explanation for the delay later.**

 **For now, enjoy the chapter.  
**

* * *

Chapter 5

Lunch.

On a normal day, the bell that announced this midday meal was met with a very loud cry of joy as a particular pink(salmon) haired student bolted down the hall toward temporary freedom, and more food than any other person his size could eat. And today was nothing even resembling an exception.

Natsu, Gajeel, Gray, and Erza were all still in the old man's office discussing strategies for controlling Natsu's more aggressive or questionable urges, and keeping him calm or bringing him back down in certain situations.

When the bell (FINALLY!) rang, he instinctively rushed out the door and through the halls, completely missing Erza's telling him that they weren't done yet, and Makarov's stating that they could use a break anyway.

As the young student weaved his way through the crowds that were already beginning to form in the halls, he thought over the meeting. They had been in there three whole class periods discussing strategies and new habits that he would likely form, and quite frankly, while he knew that this was important and they all cared for him, it was an embarrassing and awkward subject.

Hearing how he needed something with her scent on it, had to follow her around, would probably need a good picture of her, he sounded like a creepy stalker that they based horror movies on. He had purposefully not teased Gajeel with any lines like that in hopes that karma wouldn't come back to bite him on the ass. Gray was the one who did all the teasing, heck Natsu actually defended the studded freak on a few occasions. But in the end, Gray's life worked out perfectly while he was screwed.

Damnit! He had missed some golden opportunities for nothing! Well, he did get to see Gajeel bash Gray one good time.

Hey! Maybe if he played his cards right that could happen again!

Putting that thought aside for now, Natsu's mouth began to water as he smelled the cafeteria. He made his usual entrance of nearly kicking the doors of the hinges, and as a testament to how common it was, absolutely no one looked up from their food.

Ignoring the twinge of hurt at being ignored, he walked over to the line, taking deep breaths of the intoxicating scent of Fairy-Tail High's cafeteria food as he went.

After a karate tournament held at Phantom High (Fairy-Tail kicked some Phantom ASS of course.) the senior had really come to appreciate just how lucky they were to be at Fairy-Tail High, especially after he heard from a kid from Quatro Cerberus, that there had been multiple accounts of acute intestinal problems with many of the students from other schools.

Natsu shuddered, quickly pushing back the memories of that student's, (way too detailed) descriptions of some specific cases before he lost his appetite.

The cafeteria line was pretty much an all you could eat buffet, depending on how much food you could cram onto your plate. At Fairytail High, you paid for each trip you made up to the counter. Rumor had it, according to legend, a long time ago, that people used to say that the lunch line was, at one time, truly all you can eat. That, of course, was before Natsu was enrolled.

Though he vehemently denies it, the story goes that Makarov, who was well aquatinted with the pink (salmon) haired boy, changed the custom upon sending out Natsu's acceptance letter.

All this for naught, it seemed, as the young man became an immediate authority on the best food stacking methods.

As he finally got through the line, he had only a little difficulty seeing over the bounty on his platter.

Making his way through the crowded cafeteria, looking for a place to sit, he froze for a moment, sniffing the air. Vanilla and strawberry. It wafted through the caf, like some sort of homing device that he'd been hardwired for. And like earlier that morning, he felt bound to answer the call.

Her blonde hair seemed to glimmer as he approached her from behind, and his heart leapt as he saw the empty bar stool style seat to her right. Levy sat to her left on one side of the table, and Lisanna, Cana and Juvia sat, in that order, on the opposite side.

As he closed the distance, he heard her melodious voice as she chatted with the other girls.

"So, have any of you guys seen Erza?" She asked, "I haven't seen her since before class started."

Seizing the opportunity to make his presence known, Natsu casually plopped into the open seat like it was the most natural thing in the world. (A move he was very proud of later.)

"Erza's got Student Council Meetings during the first lunch of every month," Natsu told her, starting in on his own, working from top to bottom.

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, though Natsu wasn't sure whether it was because of his sudden appearance, or the fact that the pile of food he was dismantling was just slightly shorter than Levy.

Aside from Lisanna's raised eyebrow, which Natsu decided to ignore, none of the others at the table reacted to either his presence, the size of his plate, or the fact that he was sitting Lucy, the only one at the table who he didn't know. Though he knew that he would get grilled on it later, unless Lisanna, Cana, and Juvia heard those stupid reports, in which case, there was still Levy to deal with.

Lucy looked like she was about to comment on his sudden appearance when Levy, who had been looking at the school schedule, spoke up.

"But she was supposed to be in our other two classes, where was she then?"

"Titania was with us," Gajeel said, suddenly materializing beside the Blue-haired bookworm, similar to how Natsu had appeared beside Lucy, "gett'in her ear chewed off for try'in to take the punishment of students into her own hands."

He said all this with a pointed look at Levy.

Within moments, every one at the table was looking pointedly at the bluenette, who was slowly (as if they wouldn't notice,) attempting to disappear under the table.

She almost made it. When the table was about even with her nose, Gajeel made a snort/chuckle like noise. Grabbing her by the back of her uniform, the studded teen lifted her till she was sitting in her seat properly.

"Oh don't think we'll let you off _that_ easy Squirt."

Levy's cheeks puffed out in annoyance.

"Stop calling me small you oversized, greasy, pincushion! You compulsive, asinine, egotistical…"

She trailed off as she realized that all of the pointed looks she was getting were beginning to turn into slight glares.

"Oh squirt," Cana said, disapprovingly, "you can't change the subject that easily."

Levy opened and closed her mouth multiple times. For the first time since Natsu met her, the girl seemed to be struggling to find words. So much so, the pink (salmon) haired boy struggled to keep from laughing in her face. He only just managed by reminding himself of how defensive of Levy Gajeel was, even given the current state of their relationship. Or lack thereof.

"Come on Levy," Lisanna scolded, "You know that Master can't stand it when Erza tries to take over."

"Levy is also aware that Erza has a difficult time resisting the urge to reign over her fellow classmates." Said the other blue haired girl at the table. " Juvia doesn't think that Levy was being very kind."

"Not to mention she _interrupted_ our meeting with Master, where we were being dealt with." Said Gray, as he slid into his place at Juvia's right.

"And it ain't like Gramps is a slouch, either." Gajeel told her.

"And let me remind you, the only language Erza speaks is Overkill." Natsu finished.

"Like you're one to talk," Levy grumbled through her fingers, as she hid her face in her hands.

"Hey, it's not the only language I speak!" He replied defensively. "Besides, Erza is more fluent than me in it."

"So… Hold up." Lucy said, reminding the others (save Natsu who had never forgotten) that she too was present, "Erza… Went up to Makarov's office…. To punish you, even though you were being punished… And got herself punished for circumventing his authority?"

Natsu wasn't really sure what 'circumventing' meant, but the way she said it sounded pretty, so he nodded.

He really had to get these emotions under control.

"Dang," the blonde continued, "miscalculated on that one, huh, Lev?"

Levy looked as though she wanted to shrink under the table again, but Natsu decided that the blunette had been through enough. "Yeah… What took you two so long to get back here?" He asked turning his attention to Gajeel and Gray.

"Well, Titania was fixin' to chase you down, so we didn't wanna get caught in the crossfire." Grunted the metallic freak.

"Yeah," Gray added, "Be glad Gramps told her to chill out and just let ya go."

"Hey," Natsu said defensively, "LUNCH. Some things are SACRED."

"Hey," Gajeel pointed out, "TITANIA."

Everyone at the table (except Natsu) nodded in solemn agreement.

"What are the odds," asked Fullbuster, "That she'll be one of those 'the bell doesn't dismiss you, I DO' teachers when she interns next year?"

At the mention of the inevitable internship, there was a collective shudder. Natsu stroked his chin in thought before stating, "yeah… But I'd run to lunch anyways…"

"And DIE." Cana reminded him.

Natsu looked at his hands as he weighed the options.

"Lets see, starve to death, or be killed by Erza after I eat. Die without food, die with food. DING DING DING! WE HAVE A WINNER!"

"You know," Gray mused, leaning toward Juvia, "He's got a good point…" Juvia was looking at him wide eyed, seeming to take in, just now, just how close to her he was. Seeing her stare, he pecked her quickly on the lips. "Hi honey, how has your day been?" He asked smiling.

"It's better now." She replied, lacing her fingers with his.

Ignoring their sappy exchange, Natsu addressed the rest of the group. "YA SEE?!" He exclaimed, arms out wide, "Even the Popsicle agrees with me!" He turned to Lucy, looking for affirmation.

As he did so, he took passing notice of Gajeel and Levy rolling their eyes at his behavior.

Then the look on their faces changed, rapidly turning from exasperation to panic as they both rose hastily from the table and took a step (or two in Levy's case) back.

Now, on any normal day, Natsu would have known exactly what they were doing this for, it was routine after all, and properly braced himself for it. But he'd had a rather crazy day and was partially under the impression that "routine" had completely taken a vacation for the day.

The sound of small feet practically flying towards him from across the cafeteria, quickly snapped him out of this blissful ignorance.

Eyes widening in realization, he did the math and realized that his options were either dive out of the way, and leave Lucy to fend for herself, or act as a shield. His instincts automatically nixed the first idea, so arms still out wide, he squealed "SAVE ME!" And wrapped his arms around Lucy as Wendy came charging up and tackled them both out of the blonde's seat.

They ended up sprawled on the floor, where Gajeel and Levy had been standing seconds ago, with Natsu's arms wrapped around Lucy, and Lucy returning the favor instinctively. Wendy, who still had them in her death hug (as Natsu affectionately called it), then seemed to take notice of the fact that she also had her arms around Lucy as well as her brother, and squealed all the more.

"LUCY! Oh you're here too! I'm so glad!" And she (if possible,) hugged the pair even tighter.

As Wendy continued to hug them, her speech turned to an excited babbling that Natsu could neither understand or keep up with, and he doubted that Lucy was having any better luck. Based on her absolutely adorable confused face, he saw he was correct in that assumption.

He felt that she needed a distraction, something that she could focus on, understand, and respond to. Obviously, Wendy's rambling didn't fit those categories, so he decided to try and help.

"Hi, I'm Natsu." The pink (salmon) haired boy said with a smile, causing the blonde to turn her confused gaze on him. He pushed on as though she wasn't looking at him like he just fell from the sky, "I see that you already know Wendy," he said, nodding to the bluenette currently trying to break their ribs, "and yes, she does this everyday."

Now that she had something to respond to, Lucy looked a lot more comfortable. She visibly relaxed, and Natsu could feel the tension ease out of her (since he still had his arms around her.)

"Ah," she started, a look of understanding spreading across her face. She looked down at Wendy, who was ignoring their conversation in favor of continuing to babble on about Romeo being to slow, then back up at Natsu before continuing.

"She must really miss you."

The young man snorted.

"She saw me this morning when I dropped her off at class. No, no… she just likes to say _'hi'_ like this."

Lucy raised an eyebrow at this.

"So is this like a Dragneel thing? Saying hi by tackling people? Including new people?"

"To the first, kind'a. To the second…" Natsu tilted his head in thought before continuing. It took almost all of his willpower to not say _"_ t."ish, much less what they meant, but it sounded right, so he just rolled with wn _only the pretty ones,"_ but he managed to say, "No, you're the first." Instead.

"I feel so special."

 _You have NO idea._

"You should. I considered just diving out of the way and letting you take the fall all on your own, but I'm not a cruel person."

"Thank you for your generosity," she said, rolling her eyes, "I greatly appreciate it."

 _Oh, great, my mate_ would _be a walking dictionary. But then, she_ is _Levy's best friend._

"Your appreciation is duly noted." He replied. He didn't even know those words were English, much less what they meant, but it sounded right, so he just rolled with it.

Lucy laughed, then winced slightly as Wendy's embrace restricted such an action, causing Natsu to decide that the hug had gone long enough.

"Wendy,"he said to get the young bluenette's attention. He was almost adamantly ignored. He tried again, more insistent this time.

"Hey Wen! Air! We still need that!"

This time his words made it through, and the girl released them from her grasp, stammering an apology, mostly to Lucy.

"Hey! What about me? You crushed me too."

Wendy rolled her eyes.

"Oh you're fine. This was the first time I said hi to Lucy like that, you however, are a veteran."

"Doesn't make me immune to it."

"Yeah well you know you like- OOF!"

That last grunt was squeezed out of her by her brother, who had just wrapped her up in a bear hug of his own.

"Oh, I _do!_ I love it so much that I have to say thank you the best way that I know how."

"Natsu! Air! I need it!"

The pink (salmon) haired boy set his sister down, ruffling her hair as she took a recovering breath. She quickly fixed it, sending a glare at towards him, to which he just chuckled as he sat back down in the seat that she had knocked him out of. Lucy followed his example, and Wendy sat in the seat to his right, still mumbling unhappily about his treatment of her hair.

"So Wendy," he said, trying to get her to stop whining, "Where's Romeo?"

"I'm right here," came a new voice.

The whole group looked up to see a rather irate looking 14 year old in the standard school uniform, save for the orange scarf he wore instead of a tie. He had dark purple hair, coal black eyes, and was about 5' 2".

Natsu turned towards him, a grin spreading across his face.

"Hey Romeo! What took you so long?"

The young teen looked pointedly at his hands, drawing everyones attention to the two trays he was balancing perfectly.

"Your sister left me holding the food. You honestly expect me to keep up with her in a crowd like this without making a mess? The girl runs like the wind!"

Natsu's grin widened, "And hits like a tornado. You should have eaten her food, taught her a lesson."

Wendy shot her brother a scandalized look before glaring at Romeo.

"Don't you dare."

He only chuckled, "Well I don't know… You did get the last of the Hawaiian pizza, and you know how I feel about Hawaiian…"

He was cut short by the youngest bluenette practically flying from her seat to directly in front of him, grabbing her tray, and then sitting back down, fast enough to cause a stiff breeze that ruffled his hair.

Everyone at the table laughed as the boy rolled his eyes and took a seat beside Wendy, who was now ignoring him in favor of the small mountain of food on her own plate, no where near the size of Natsu's, but much more than you would expect a girl her size to eat.

The pink (salmon) haired student turned to Lucy, quite happy to have an excuse to talk to her.

"So Lucy, how do you know Wendy and Levy and everyone else, but I've never met you before?"

Said blonde, who had been gawking at Wendy's burst of speed instead of joining in on the laughter over the situation, shook her head before turning to face the young man beside her.

"Oh, I met Levy at the Library. Then she just started introducing me to the girls."

Why was he not surprised that she met Levy in a library?

Well… Really there was nowhere else that you _could_ meet her, but that was beside the point. However, it did answer a few questions.

"Oh! So you're the 'Library Date' that Wendy wouldn't stop gushing about!"

Lucy's blush was not only an affirmative enough answer for him, it was also incredibly cute, and he silently vowed to do what he could to make her do that as often as he could.

"Ah… I guess so… Anyways, I just transferred here for this year after a fiasco at my last school convinced my dad that I shouldn't go there anymore."

"Ah, so they told you about Fairy-Tail High, and my glorious awesomeness, and you had to come see for yourself?"

The young woman tapped here chin thoughtfully, " I think their phrasing was more along the lines of ' Total Screwball'…." At this, the rest of the group exploded into laughter, excepting the pink (salmon) haired young man.

"Ok, I was expecting something like that," Natsu admitted, "but still, your delivery… OUCH! You wound me!"

"Awww, did I huwt yoor feewingz?"

 _Oh no… She DID NOT just…. Ok, if she wants to play, I will play!_

"Aw, is that what our babies are gonna sound like? Oops, did I just say that aloud?"

There was a collective gasp.

"Hey, I play to win. Ya shouldn'a gone there, overkill _is_ my middle name."

Lucy blushed all the same, and Natsu wasn't sure which of her blushes he liked better: Cherry Blossom, or Tomato of Surprise. Both were adorable.

Before Lucy could respond, Levy carefully, "accidentally", spilled the entire contents of her tray all down the front of her friend's uniform.

"Oh Lucy! I'm so sorry!" She said in the second most unrepentant voice Natsu had ever heard, "lets go get you cleaned up," she continued, standing up and pulling the confused blonde with her. As they walked away (or in Lucy's case, was dragged), she looked over her shoulder at the pink (salmon) haired boy and smiled.

"We should play again sometime." She said before they disappeared into the crowd.

"Anytime" Natsu whispered to himself, before turning around to the stunned faces of his friends, who he had unfortunately forgotten were there.

"Oh crap…"

"Natsu," Cana was the first to speak up, "can I ask you something?"

"I'm suddenly very uneasy." Was his only response.

She took that as a yes. "Were you just… _flirting?_ "

He buried his head in his hands before answering.

"Not on purpose."

Gajeel's signature "Gehii" drew everyone's attention.

"Kind'a instinctive ain't it, Salamander?"

Natsu only nodded mutely as Lisanna and Wendy both squealed excitedly.

"I'm gonna have a sister!" Wendy giggled.

"I thought you two would be perfect from the day I met her!" Lisanna said happily.

 _How come my relationships are always the center of attention, Dammit?_

* * *

 **First things first.**

 **I'M SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!**

 **Seriously, over two months? Longest one yet!**

 **Hopefully the longest ever.**

 **Between work, driving, (I live an hour away from EVERYTHING) trying to maintain some semblance of a social life, and my car troubles, this really fell on the priority list.**

 **Not to mention that this dialogue was the hardest that I've written up to this point, the rest was done in about 1-2 weeks.**

 **Thank you all for the reviews! They reminded me of some of the reasons that I'm writing this story, and did in fact help me to find the motivation required to FINALLY finish this chapter.**

 **Again, sorry for the wait, I'll try to be faster in the future.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Jambo fellow readers.**

 **Shortest chapter by far, I'm so sorry.  
**

* * *

Chapter 6

Lucy wondered about many things on the way to the restroom: Where it was, why her friend was so intent on taking her there, what the rest of their friends were talking about now back at the table…

But mostly about how a person as small Levy could _possibly_ have so strong a grip.

Despite Levy short legs, Lucy found herself jogging to keep up with the tiny bluenette.

Levy led (read DRAGGED) her friend through the maze of white-tiled hallways that Lucy was not yet familiar with. She had attempted to take the girl to the restroom adjacent to the cafeteria, but there had evidently been an… "accident" … that caused the bathroom to shut down for repairs. Lucy could hear the grumbling of the repairmen and janitors from the hall.

Something about it being the worse thing to happen to that restroom since the Noodle Incident….

Whatever _that_ was.

She didn't have long to dwell on that, however, as the instant they reached their destination, Levy pounced.

"You were _flirting_ with him!"

Lucy wasn't really sure why she was surprised, but this question still caught her completely off-guard.

" _What!?_ Who? _"_

"You. Were _flirting_. With _Natsu!_ "

"What! No! That's crazy, I just met him!"

"And he was flirting _Back!"_ Levy said, ignoring her friend entirely, "I've known him for 12 years and a girlfriend, I've never seen him _do_ that before!"

"Girlfriend?"

"And now you're _jealous_!"

"What? NO!"

"Not to mention _denying_ it." Levy added, "Denial is the first stage, they say."

"OF GREIF, LEVY!"

"NO!" LEVY!"s the first stage, they say." Levy shouted with an authoritative tone that gave Lucy pause, "No flirting! If you start flirting, then you'll get a boyfriend. If you get a boyfriend, then you'll spend less time studying. If you spend less time studying, then your grades will drop. If your grades drop, then your dad will ship you off to Spriggan Academy in Alvarez. If your dad ships you off, then I'll be short a best friend, and I'll spend my days faking smiles at school, only to go home and cry over my book collection and the few letters that you have time to send my way, because you'll be having so much fun with your _new_ friends that I'll slowly fade from your memory and you'll eventually stop writing me. Then I'll sink lower into depression, and become cranky and ugly, and I'll never get a boyfriend and my high-school life will suck and it will be ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Having said all that rapid fire, in one breath, Levy finally paused to inhale deeply before continuing.

"All that to say. NO BOYS!"

There were a few moments that passed, with only Levy's panting breaking the silence.

"Are you finished?" Lucy asked, hands on her hips, head cocked to one side.

Levy stood a little straighter and, with a surprising amount of grace and dignity for someone who almost had a mental breakdown, nodded once.

"Yes. Yes I am."

The sound of a flushing toilet broke the silence. Three stalls down, the lock slowly slide open, and a young dark haired woman emerged, resolutely walked to the sink without looking at either of the other girls. She quickly washed her hands, and all but ran from the room.

"Did she even use the soap?" Levy asked. She turned and shouted in the direction of the door. "YOU _**DO**_ KNOW YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO USE THE SOAP, RIGHT?! Unbelievable."

"Let it go, Lev." Lucy replied, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Levy turned back towards her friend with some reluctance. Still muttering something about how public restrooms are ideal environments for bacterial growth.

Lucy decided to change topics. "So, anyways… Are we still going to go to the library aft-?"

"NO BOYS!" Levy shouted again, cutting her off.

"I thought you said you were done!" Lucy cried in exasperation.

"I was, but I suddenly felt a renewed sense of vigor!"

"Lev-VY…"

"I can take no risks in this matter! There is no room for any mistakes or miscalcu-"

"I GET IT!" Lucy shouted. A little louder than she'd meant to, but her blue haired friend had gone clear past Ridiculous Level. "I wasn't flirting with him anyways!"

" _Yes, you were!"_

"Not on _purpose!_ "

" _ **THAT**_ MAKES IT EVEN _**WORSE**_ _!"_

" _ALRIGHT!"_ Lucy cried, finally having enough, "Okay, _fine._ Yes, I was flirting, yes, I know how risky that was. And I'll stop, Levy, I will, it's just…" She trailed off.

"Stop it!" Levy commanded.

"What?"

"You were just entertaining the idea!"

"Levy! I _just_ met him! Would you _chill out?!_ You're scaring me with all your paranoia."

The bluenette nodded, gathering herself "Okay… But you know what I'm saying?"

"You've said it at least three times. I get it, Levy, we're good."

Both girls sighed.

"So," Levy started again, "What are you gonna do?"

"Well, for starters, I'm going back to the caf," Lucy told her "Let's take care of this one step at a time." She took about three steps toward the door before glancing over her shoulder at her best friend. "You coming?"

Levy nodded, and followed the blonde back to the table.

This wouldn't be a problem, she could handle it. Besides, she _refused_ to get her hopes up that he felt the same way that she already did…

 _Was there?_

* * *

 **I was originally going to make this chapter longer, but I've made you wait far too long, and my sister pointed out a better way to do the next segment.**

 **Speaking of, as of last chapter, my sister(Mwalitatu) is officially co-authoring this story with me. She used to just let me bounce some ideas off of her, but she wrote like half of the past two chapters.**

 **And I just forgot to tell you that…oops.**

 **Anyhoo.**

 **She, like me, loves reviews, so be sure to leave us one and let us know what you think!**

 **Baadaye-Duma**


	8. Chapter 7

**Jambo fellow readers.**

 **A few people have asked about the secrecy of the Magic and Dragon communities.**

 **The answer is this: the world of magic is hidden from the world at large, for reasons I will explain later, Lucy and Levy are both currently in the dark about magic, the rest of the main cast isn't.**

 **There are two magic groups in this story, dragons and regular mages.**

 **There are plenty of people who fit into those two categories, but we'll get to them later.**

 **For now, enjoy.**

Chapter 7

Natsu's friends were merciless.

You'd think that he would be used to it by now, he'd _only_ known them all his life, and therefore had plenty of examples to prove this.

Like the time that Gray put sugar in all the salt shakers in the caf… and told everyone but Natsu. (Sugar does _not_ belong in fire-breath chili!)

Or there were the times (yes, as in plural.) that Gajeel put itching powder in his anything. Anything, from his gym shorts, to his book bag. on occasion his food, though Natsu repeatedly kicked his ass for that one so he didn't do it often.

Or the time a drunken Cana had drawn on his face while he slept in study hall, in permanent marker. He'd gone the rest of the day with "STUID" written diagonally across his left eye. (Evidently drunk Cana couldn't spell… Not that normal Cana was much better.)

Or the time that Lisanna convinced Wendy that it would be a great idea to put those annoying little pop-it-fire-cracker things (the ones that you throw on the ground at the fourth of July) … _everywhere he went!_

Under the rim of the toilet seat, taped to the soles of his shoes, beneath loose floorboards, _filled his locker with the little shits, so that they fell onto the floor and surrounded his ass._ At lunch, he double checked all his food… And _still_ missed one in his burger! But the worst was when he got home _._ In an attempt to gain some solace, he ran straight for his room, and slammed the door behind him…

…only to have eighty-seven (he _counted!_ ) micro explosions occur in his wake.

He ended up torching his bed in both an act of frustration, and to make sure that there weren't any hidden in it too.

It honestly wasn't an accident as a result of his being startled by the noise, but no one would ever believe him about that.

Those were his friends and family. He loved them to death, but they were just cruel. And he was very aware of it.

So, he really wasn't all that shocked when they started ooing, and aweing over him and Lucy, and giving him advice about relationships.

He started to get worried when they began suggesting wedding venues though.

"Guys! It totally has to be in the guild hall!" Lisanna said, after they had been on the subject for at least five minutes.

"Oh, my gosh…", Wendy started.

"That's perfect!" Juvia finished.

"Didn't Cana say that at first?" Natsu asked, making the mistake of drawing the others' attention to him. Idiot.

"What do you think Natsu?" Wendy asked, somewhat sweetly, somewhat demanding in a way that only she could really pull off.

Before he could answer, Cana cut him off, "Oh Puh-Leez! His opinion doesn't matter! His job is to stand there and look handsome, any more than that and he'll mess something up."

Natsu was seriously considering torching Cana's liquor supply for that comment.

"There's more to it than that," Lisanna reminded her, "he does have to memorize his vows."

"Because saying 'I do' is _sooo_ difficult." Gray put in.

"Exactly," Cana said, gesturing to him, her expression practically screaming 'well duh!'. "Besides, the wedding isn't for the groom! It's all about the Bride!"

"Now, the wedding _night_ on the other hand…" Gray trailed off, wiggling his eyebrows and leaving Romeo's mouth wide in shock and Wendy's cheeks red with embarrassment. Cana busted out laughing as Lisanna and Juvia smacked him upside the head.

"You're scarring the children!" The white-haired girl scolded.

"Do not speak of Love Rival in such a crass manner!" Juvia added.

"How can you have a love rival?" Natsu asked, once again dragging everyone's attention to him.

Fortunately, he was saved by Gajeel, of all people.

The studded student slammed his hands on the table, causing everyone to jump, and Natsu to reach out and steady the towers of food that were still at the table.

"Would you guys stop it?!" Gajeel nearly roared, "this conversation was makin' me sick ten minutes ago, and now you're jumpin' around so much I'm gettin' motion sick too! QUIT IT!"

He had a valid point. Under normal circumstances, a conversation like this was uncomfortable. Add to that the fact that he had only just met Lucy this morning, and you ended up clean past uncomfortable and somewhere in the realm of creepy.

Time to dial it back a bit.

"So, what did we miss in class? Anything?" He asked, trying to get things back to a somewhat normal level.

Everyone at the table stared at him like he'd fallen from the sky, and turned back to one another and took the conversation to another, surprisingly _more_ uncomfortable subject.

Natsu buried his head in his hands as Lucy and Levy returned from the bathroom. He felt the blonde's eyes on him as she took her seat.

"What's the matter?" She asked him. "What did we miss?"

"Well," he pleasantly noted the hint of concern in her voice. "Are you sure ya wanna know?"

The tone in his voice caused her to hesitate, but she nodded all the same.

He cursed her for her endearing curiosity as he found himself answering almost on instinct.

"Well, so far, they've been over dating advice, proposal ideas, wedding venues, Gray was slapped for making some innuendoes- my favorite part- and _now,_ they're talking baby names."

Lucy stared blankly at him.

"Here's the kicker… They're talking about _us!"_

The blonde's face went slack as she turned beet red. Before he could comment about her expression, Natsu pointed a finger at Gray, as the stripper and the others had carried on the conversation without even noticing Lucy and Levy's return.

"NO! No kid deserves a name like Leroy! Lucy, tell him!"

Though she was obviously still recovering from shock, she started to stammer out a reply along the lines of "No, of course not… Leroy's an awful name! Why would anyone-" she paused as if only just realizing that she was the one speaking. "WHY AM I EVEN A PART OF THIS CONVERSATION!? LEVY!"

"Hey, welcome to lunch, Lu."

"OH FINE!" She slammed her hands on the table, and leaned across, bellowing in Gray's face. "LEROY IS A _TERRIBLE NAME!_ WHATEVER CHILDREN WE HAVE, I AM PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF NAMING THEM _MYSELF,_ THANK YOU!" No one bothered to point out the fact that she had used the word _we_ , but everyone had to have noticed it, and Natsu was on Cloud Nine at the implication.

Toward the end of her rant, Gray had fallen backwards out of his chair, hands over his face, as if fending off an attacker. After a moment of silence, he peeked around his hands, and saw the expressions on his friends faces; Cana, Lisanna, Wendy, Romeo, and Gajeel were all staring at him in shock that Natsu was sure would soon turn to amusement. Levy was starring, open-mouthed at Lucy, in angered disbelief. Lastly, he seemed to notice Juvia's thoughtful look.

"Juvia…?" He asked, almost whispering.

She was silent for a moment before responding.

"Well… Leroy really is a strange name my beloved Gray… And why are you trying to name Love Rival's children?" She asked, her eyes narrowing in borderline suspicion.

Lucy huffed and sat down, glaring at the table in front of her. Only for her eyebrows to jump up in surprise at the plate of food before her.

"Didn't Levy-"

"Rudely destroy an entire plate of food before you could even eat a respectable bite?" Natsu supplied, "Yes, yes she did. And around here that is a sin. So, I took her student ID and went and bought you another plate."

"YOU WHAT!?"

"Really?" Lucy asked, ignoring the sudden noise.

"Of course, I take food very seriously."

"Are you calling me fat?" She asked, gesturing to the amount of food. Certainly more than she had had originally, but much less than Natsu's portion.

He raised an eyebrow. "First off, no I'm not.

2: If _you're_ fat, what does that make me?

And C: I just figured that I'd eat whatever you didn't."

"How are you still hungry?!" She demanded.

"That's why food's so important to me!"

"SO, YOU STOLE MY ID TO GET YOURSELF SOME FREE SECONDS!?" Levy roared.

Natsu met her gaze levelly. "No… I _borrowed_ it and replaced Lucy's lunch that you so wantonly spoiled." Gods, he hoped he could get these instincts under control. He was getting really sick of saying words he didn't understand.

"And anyway," he added, "I think I _deserve_ a little extra table scraps after you leave alone with _these guys,_ " He gestured to the rest of the group, " _WHO SEEM TO THINK THAT_ _AGITHA_ _IS A GOOD IDEA FOR A NAME!_ GRAY, WHERE ARE YOU GETTING THESE THINGS FROM?!"

"Please tell me Juvia's naming your children…" said the blonde, putting her face in her hands.

The bluenette in question immediately perked up. "Juvia has actually considered several possibilities over the course of this relationship!" She squealed, pulling a 2" binder out of her backpack.

Gajeel became immediately interested, leaning across the table to get a better look.

"Now this I gotta see."

Gray turned and glared at him, "what happened to this conversation making you sick?"

"That was with Salamander, I haven't seen you squirm in a long while."

Gray's jaw fell open, but he was quickly forgotten as Juvia began flipping through the binder as Cana and Lisanna looked over her shoulder.

"What kinda organization is _this_?" Cana asked.

"The entries are first divided by birth order and then alphabetized." Juvia replied, "Girls' names in the front and boys' in the back."

"Oh oh!" cried the other bluenette getting in on the action. "Did you use that label maker I got you for Christmas?"

"Of course, and may Juvia say it made the whole process that much more fun?"

"HA! SEE?!" Levy said pointing a finger at Natsu, "I _told_ you it wasn't a stupid gift!"

Natsu raised his hands in confused surrender, "I didn't even know you got her anything."

"Oh… Must have been the other numbskull in the group," she said with a pointed look at Gajeel.

"Hey, don't drag Pinkie down to Frosty's level."

Levy harrumphed and went back to oohing and awing over the prospective future Fullbusters.

Now Natsu was leaning over the table to get a better look at the binder, absently noticing that Lucy was not partaking in The List, but was quietly eating her food. He'd have to thank her for redirecting the attention away from them later.

"OH, this is a good one!" he said, pointing. "Shiro. I'll bet I'm gonna be his favorite godfather!"

"You realize there's only one, right?" Asked Gray. "And anyways, who said _you_ get to be godfather?"

"Well who would you rather _be_ the godfather, me or _Gajeel?"_

"That's a good point… but aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves?"

Natsu stuck out his right hand. "Put'er there, Pot. My name's Kettle!"

Gray shook it, eyes rolling; "Charmed, I'm sure."

The bell rang before any further comments could be made or other names discussed.

"Darn it." Natsu pouted, "I wanted to see the other ones!"

"Juvia will be glad to show you later." The bluenette promised, patting his head.

"Could someone please shoot me?" Gray asked.

"Sorry bub, I didn't come packin' today." Gajeel said, standing up.

"'TODAY'?" Levy asked in shock.

"Yeah, the full body searches are real thoura on the first day back." Replied the studded student, as easily as you might say "Man, the weather's rough today."

"Soo… What class do we have next?" Natsu asked, trying to avoid the lecture that Levy was just seconds from launching into. They rose and went to dump their trays, Natsu rapidly consuming what was left of Lucy's food before it was too late.

The bluenette in question consulted her schedule. "Well, _Lucy and I_ have chemistry, I don't know about you two."

The boys shared a glance. "Chemistry."

"Say what?" Levy asked. "How do you know that already?"

The pink (salmon) haired boy responded before Gajeel could. "Well, my schedule matches his, and his matches yours." As he spoke, he pointed to each person as he referenced them.

"And you know this _how?"_

"Well we compared ours, and he totally _didn't_ break into your locker to check yours."

"SALAMANDER!"

"What? You didn't!" Natsu defended.

"How could you!"

"I DIDN'T!"

"-Invading my personal space, uninvited-"

"Agh, whatever!" Gajeel said, stalking off toward the hall.

"Oh no, you don't!" Levy cried, stomping after him, leaving a mildly confused Lucy in her wake.

Natsu grinned. "How long before she realizes that he barely even knows where _his_ locker is, much less _hers?"_

"Well," said Lucy, "it won't be before she's done ranting and raving, I know that much."

"Agreed. So, you think it'll happen in that big deep breath after she's done?"

"Does she do that every time?"

"Isn't she like your best friend? Yeah, she does that every time. Has she _never_ ranted at you?" Asked Gray, walking by, Juvia hanging on his arm.

"No… not until today."

"You must've never insulted her books in her presence, then…" Natsu muttered.

"Gray, how did you manage to take your shirt off with Juvia hanging on you?" Wendy asked, hiding behind Romeo.

"Gray! You're scarring my sister!"

"Say what?" Asked the (now shirtless) Fullbuster, looking down at himself for the first time. "CRAP! Where is it now?!" He cried as he stormed back to the table to look there.

"Ten jewel says he won't find it before class starts." Cana said as Juvia followed her boyfriend.

"You're on," Lisanna replied, "but if he finds it before class, and then loses it between the caf and chemistry, I still win."

"Yeah whatever, keep us informed Lucy, we have history next."

"Okay, see you in," Lucy shuddered, "…pre-cal."

Lisanna hugged the blonde, before she backed up to hold her at arm's length and look her in the eye, "we'll make it, we'll get through this."

Lucy only nodded once before the white-haired girl took off down the hall towards her class.

She stood still for a moment, somberly accepting her fate.

It was a few seconds before Natsu broke the silence. "You have no idea where Chem is, do you?"

"Not a one." She admitted, "and now my guide has abandoned me. Help, please?"

"Come on." He said, throwing his arm casually around her shoulders, and steering her in the right direction. while waving a quick goodbye to Wendy and Romeo. He was trying (mostly failing) to ignore the fact that his arm was now tingling warmly. It was _not_ easy.

They walked a few steps in a mildly weird silence.

"So," Natsu tried, "uh, how do you like Fairytail High so far?"

"It's… Different…"

"Here, that's high praise."

Lucy giggled (Which was friggin' adorable!) before responding. "I figured it would be. I have never seen so many weird hair colors."

"Would you believe you're only the third blonde we've ever had?"

"Really? I actually hadn't noticed that," she said looking around, as if to confirm his claim.

An awkward silence settled on them as Natsu realized that they were just talking about _hair color_. Of all the things that they could have talked about, they chose a subject boring and lame as the weather. Where do you go from there?

The awkwardness ended when Lucy spoke up about how much better it was than her old school, which prompted Natsu to ask about it.

So, for the rest of the way to the class Lucy told the story about how she managed to transfer to Fairy-Tail High.

He growled under his breath at the mention of Jose Porla. Lucy noticed and cocked her head to one side in question. "You know him?" She asked.

"No, not really… I met him at this teachers' union conference Gramps forced me to go to."

"Makarov made you sit through a _conference?_ What was that about?"

"The conference, no idea. He just had me there as a punishment. And it worked! I haven't brought a cow in the front office since."

"Where'd you get a _cow_ from?" Lucy asked in surprise.

"Trust me, you don't wanna get involved in this one."

"Why not?"

"Well… The circumstances weren't entirely _legal_ , per say…. Technically I am still out on the lam… The less you know, the better for you."

"I suppose I better take your word for it." The blonde decided as they walked into the classroom.

"Good." Natsu followed about halfway up the aisle before realizing that there were no open seats beside her, and sullenly turning to take the open seat two desks in front of her.

As the Chemistry teacher, Mr. Macao began to take the roll, Natsu zoned out, dwelling on his one brief interaction with Jose Porla.

In short, the man was a jackass.

It only took five minutes of being near him to make Natsu aware of this.

What Natsu had told Lucy about going to a conference was true. He just left out the fact that it wasn't specifically for teachers. In truth, it was a gathering of many of the most important and powerful mages in the country. Jose Porla being then-master of the Phantom Lord guild.

Unfortunately, it was this position that was the subject of the council meeting, thus putting Porla in the hot seat. His guild was being investigated for several crimes, including: theft, reckless endangerment, political corruption, and the list goes on. However, before the trial could get started, Porla skipped town, using multiple spells to cover his tracks he had been in hiding for a full year before the incident at Saber Tooth.

After that, finding him was easier done than said. He was currently lock up in Black Vox Prison, no parole.

Natsu's name on the roll call brought him back to the present. He gave Macao a wave and a nonchalant "here". Again, his heart leaped a little when Lucy's name was called.

Gajeel barely looked up as their teacher read off his name, finishing the roll before launching promptly into the mandatory, annoying, same-every-stinking-year safety speech.

Natsu hated it. Well, he _understood_ it, but everybody in the class was a senior. They had all heard this speech at least a half dozen other times. The pink (salmon) haired boy himself could recite it forwards, backwards, upside down and inside out, (don't ask how.) and he was by no means the smartest one of the bunch.

 _First, put on your goggles and apron,_ Natsu mimicked in his head. _These are to be worn at all times. Failing to do so will mean spending your precious lunch time with me in detention. (Insert class wide cringe here.)_

 _Let's get started with the Bunsen burner. Treat this with absolute care… It can quickly go from a Bunsen burner to a Bixlow burner. (Class wide slow clap at lame pun.)_

 _This particular piece of equipment runs on the gas line throughout the school. Never leave it in the on position. Make sure you turn it off before you go at the end of class. Light, it up with a match like so…. (Lights burner, blows out match) now you should already know that fire is hot, so be very careful around the lit bur… Somethings wrong!_

Natsu sat up straighter, suddenly much more alert than he was a second ago. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he sensed that something was off. Heard it. He looked around the room subtly, trying to gauge other people's reactions. He was taken aback when he realized that Gray and Gajeel were totally unaffected when there was so obviously, something really wrong.

 _What is_ wrong _with you idiots!?_ He wanted to shout, _did you forget your ears and noses at home today?!_

He drew a sharp breath of realization. If _they_ hadn't noticed, maybe it was _him…_ or at least…

Abandoning all pretense of subtlety, the young man's head swiveled around to look at the blonde two rows behind him.

She was staring intensely at the front of the room fiddling nervously with her left earring, a dangling silver 8-point star.

That sound… Natsu now registered that it was the young woman's heart rate. And it was _way_ too fast.

There are multiple reasons for an accelerated heart beat; excitement, nervousness etc., but this… This sounded more like fear. Bordering on total panic.

The pink (salmon) haired boy turned his attention unwillingly back to the front of the room, trying to figure what was troubling her. Obviously, having only known the girl for a day, he had no way of knowing what it might be. Maybe she just really hated science.

Macao had lit another match while Natsu's head was turned, but he continued to speak as normal until the flame bit his finger, causing him to drop the still lighted match into the nearly overflowing trash can beside him, setting it ablaze.

Pandemonium (whatever that meant) ensued.

Their teacher ignored it, striding across the room easily to take the extinguisher off of the hook on the wall.

He sprayed the foamy stuff, putting out the flame. "You see, students?" He said, setting the red can on the counter, "THAT is why it is important to always know where the fire containment equipment is kept. Imagine if-"

"Lucy?!" Natsu jumped up, running to the back wall of the classroom, where said blonde crouched, face pale, breathing shallow and uneven, eyes wild.

Everyone turned as one as the scarf-clad student knelt beside her.

"Hey, hey what's wrong? What's the matter?" He all but whispered, cautiously putting his hand on her shoulder. She pointed to the now foamy garbage can, her lips moving without a sound. Her eyes rolled back.

Natsu caught her before she could face plant on the tiled floor. He scooped her up bridal style and headed for the door, not bothering to ask the midnight blue haired teacher for permission. He didn't have to. Macao opened it for him.

The young man half ran down the hall towards the nurse's office, his mind racing to figure out what had happened back there.

Whatever it was, he didn't like it.

" **So, what you're saying is, after five months of nothing, you give us a cliffhanger like that?!"**

 **Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying. This was always the way that chapter was going to end, the hard part was the journey to get there, I wanted to have some fun with everyone.**

 **So anyway, we've updated! You can now put away the pitchforks, and put out the torches, and funeral pyres! There's no need to hunt us down anymore!**

 **We'll try to update more often in the future, because we understand the pain of long awaited updates, but there's only so much time in the day, and we both have obligations that take up most of our time.**

 **On a final note, we bear no ill will towards the names "Leroy," or "Agatha," or anyone who has them. We just felt that Lucy wouldn't like them for** _ **her**_ **children.**

 **As always, we would love it if you review! Tell us your opinions, or ask us questions.**

 **Baadaye-Duma and Mwali**


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